Valve attachment for hydrants



L. G. KE'YES. VALVE ATTACHMENT FOR HYDRANTS.

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N. PETERS, Phnwulho n hnr, Waihlnglcll. 0J3.

UNITED STATES P TENT OFFI E.

LYMAN to. KEYES, or ARMSTRONG, KANSAS.

. VALVE ATTACHMENT FOR HYDRANTS.

SPECIPICATIONT' rming part of Letters Patent No. 351,924, dated November 2 1886.

Application filed July 7, 1836; Serial No. 207,325. (No model.)

V ".T all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, LYMAN G. KEYEs, of Armstrong, in the county of Wyaudotte, and the State of Kansas, have invented a new and Improved Valve Attachment for Hydrants and Street-Washers, of which the follo wing is afull, clear, and exact description. i

One of the greatest ditficulties to be met and I overcome in connection with the use of hy-] drants and street-washers is that the valve is necessarily located at a point below the frostline, the idea being to prevent the freezing of the hydrant; and with hydrants of ordinary constructionit becomes necessary .to dig up the casing in order to reach the valve in case any of the parts should become worn or should become disordered from any cause whatever;

and the object of my present invention is to overcome the difficulties-mentioned and to so arrange and connect the valveithat should repairs become necessary they may be made Without digging down to remove the hydrantcase, the valve and its chamber being .so in: serted that they may be disconnected vfrom and liftedout of thehydrant-case; and to this end the invention consists of a valve and its chamher or case,.the said chamber or case being connected to the lower waterchamber by means of a bushing, the exterior thread of which is a left-hand thread; and the invention'further consists of-c ertain novel constructions andcombinations that will be hereinafter described,

and specifically pointed outin the claims.

Reference is to be had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecitication,

' intwhich similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a central vertical section representing a hydrant constructed in accordancewith the terms of my invention. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional viewtaken on the line :vwof Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isa detail view illustratingthe:

' construction of the upper face of the connecting-bushing, and Fig. 4 is a central sectional elevation representing my invention as applied to a street-washer.

Referring nowmore particularly to the construction illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, 10 represents the base of my improved form of hydrant, connection between said base and the thread, and is engaged by a corresponding thread formed upon a bushing, 17, said bushing being internally threaded at 3 and serving as the support of the valvecase 4, proper gaskets 5 being arranged in order that a perfect packing of the parts may be insured. From the construction shown it will be seen that there is an annular air-cha1nber,51, formed between the valve case 4 and base 10.

The valve 20 is arranged within the valve- -case 4, and the lower end of this valve is encircled by. a yielding packing-ring, 21, held to place by a nut, 22, said packing-ring being made of rubber or of leather; or, indeed, the ring may be made of any proper yielding material. The i'nductionports of the valve are shown at 6. The valve is coupled directly with the supply-pipe 23, and to the upper end :of the supply-pipe there is in turn coupled an elbow, 24,which is threaded to receive the,

,correspondiugly-threaded end of the spout 25.

of a hexagonal nut, 27, and this not is engaged 1 The elbow 24 is provided with a casting, 26, the upper end of said casting being in theform by a screw, 28,which projects outward through the cap 29 of the upper section, 30, of the housing, the cap and the section 30 being secured together by bolts 31, arranged as best shown in Fig. 1.

To the upper end of the screw28 there is fixeda hand-wheel or lever, 32. The spout 25 passes through an elongated opening, 33,

,formed in the upper section of the housing, and this slot is covered by a shield, 34, that is carried by the spout. One or more lugs or projections, 7, are formed upon the upper face of the bushing 17 and a single lug or projection, 8, is formed upon the outer surface of the coupling-flange 35 of the Valve 20. A venthole or water-discharge orifice, 36, is arranged, as best shown in Fig. 1, and a second venthole, 9, is formed through the body of the Valve 20.

Such being the general construction of my improved form of hydrant, the operation is as follows: In Fig. 1 the valve is represented as nearly-closed, and in this position it will be seen that the vent-hole 9 is just above the upper face of the bushing 17, so that any water contained within the delivery-pipe will be free to enter the space between the valve and its housing 13, in order thatit may pass off through the orifice 36; but when the screw 28 is moved so as to force the valve downward the orifice 9 will be carried within the valve-chamber or case before the induction-ports 6 reach a posit-ion outside -of such valveehamber or case, the parts being, however, so arranged that the vent 9 is opened almost immediately upon the seating of the valve, and as the valve closes with the pressure all pounding under heavy pressure will be prevented by the air-chamber 51. As before stated, the spent enters through an elongated slot, 33, formed in the upper section of the housing of the hydrant, and this slot defines the play of the valve and prevents the stripping of the threads at the lower end of the valve, and in practice it will be found that by providing the yielding ring or washer 21 the danger of injury due to the entrance of gravel or other obstructions within the water-chamber of the casting 10 will be avoided, thus rendering the valve and valveseat more durable. In order to disconnect and remove the valve and its case from the casting 10, I first force the valve downward by turning the screw 28 until the lug 8 and the valve-coupling have been brought into engage'lnent with one of the lugs 7 of the bushing 17. I then disconnect the spent 25, remove the cap 29, and disconnect the screw 28 from the nut 27, after which I apply a wrench or key to said nut, turning the wrench or key in a proper direction to disconnect the bush ing 17 from engagement with the ring 14, when the valve and its case may be lifted up ward out of the casting 10 and the housing of the hydrant.

In Fig. 4 I represent my invention as applied to a street-washer, the delivery-pipe 23 being in this case connected directly with the be removed, the valve is first forced downward, the screw is then removed from engagement with the nut 41, and the valve and its connections are turned by any proper form of key; or, if desired, the plate 43 could be arranged to receive a key, and the whole plate could be turned in order to free the bushing 17 from engagement with the ring 14.

The play of the valve in the construction illustrated in Fig. 4 is limited by a lug, 47, which strikes against the under face of the plate 43 and by the striking of the nut 41 against the shoulder 49 of the cup 45.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination, with a valve and its case, of a bushing provided with an external left-hand thread and internally threaded to receive the valve-ease, a casting forming a water and air chamber, means for connecting said casting with the watersupply, and a ring carried by said casting, said ring being threaded to engage with the external thread of the bushing, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a casting, 10, of a ring, 14, a bushing, 17, the ring and the bushing being provided, respectively, with external and internal left-hand threads, a valvecase carried by the bushing, a valve arranged within the case, a yielding packing-ring, 21, carried by the valve, and an operating mechanism, substantially as described.

3. The combination, witha valve provided with a lug, 8, of abushing provided with lugs 7, a valve-case carried by the bushing, a ring, 14, with which the bushing engages, said ring being provided with an internal left-hand thread, and means, substantially as described, whereby the valve may be lowered to bring its lug 8 into engagement with one of the lugs 7, and then turned so as to disconnect the bushing from the ring 14, substantially as described, and for the purpose stated.

4. The combination, with a casting, 10, arranged for connection with a water-main, of a ring, 14, carried by the casting, a housing, 13, abutting against said ring, an upper section or housing, 30, provided with a slot, 33, a bushing, 17, provided with an external left-hand thread that engages with a corresponding thread formed on the ring 14, a valve-case, 4, connected to the bushing, a valve,20, arranged within said case and provided with a lug, 8, lugs 7 being formed on the bushing, an elbow, 24, a spout, 25, detachably connected with said elbow, and a casting, 26, rigidly connected to the elbow and provided with a nut, 27, substantially as described.

LYMAN G. KEYES.

Witnesses.

WILLIAM T. HOLLAND, HENRY M. BACON. 

